A Sign of Hope for Brazil’s Masses : A verdict refocuses attention on the 2-million-square-mile Amazon rain forest

The conviction of two Brazilian ranchers on charges they plotted and carried out the murder of environmentalist Chico Mendes is not simply a vindication of the late union leader’s life and work. It also is a sign of hope to Brazil’s struggling masses and a challenge to those foreigners who have embraced Mendes’ goal of preserving the 2-million-square-mile Amazon rain forest, the world’s largest remaining tropical woodland.

The killers were cattle ranchers whose plans to expand their holdings by burning forest lands were thwarted by the activities of the rubber-tappers’ union Mendes founded. Rubber tappers live by extracting latex and gathering nuts.

Since 1980, more than 1,000 members of unions and other peasant associations have been murdered in disputes with Brazilian landowners. Only twice before have the killers been convicted of their crimes. Human-rights workers hope the decision signals a break with Brazil’s long history of judicial indifference to such outrages.

The international outcry that followed Mendes’ murder already has helped induce the Brazilian government to abolish the tax credits that made it profitable to convert rain forests to pastureland. It also has established a 2.4-million-acre “extractive” reserve in Mendes’ memory, where 3,000 families earn their livelihood through the traditional gathering of latex and nuts.

It remains to be discovered, however, whether Chico Mendes’ many vocal admirers in the industrialized world were attracted by his values or his brief celebrity. This year alone, three books have been published on his life; a film biography is about to go into production. But long after those books have sunk to the bottom of dusty remainder piles and the movie has been relegated to the insomniac wasteland of late-night cable, Brazil still will be struggling to reconcile the needs of 150 million desperately deprived people with its obligation to be the responsible steward of an irreplaceable natural resource.

Successful resolution of that struggle will require not only the vigilance of watchful scolds, but also the constructive advice and concrete assistence of generous friends.